This is a question for all of you? If you are like me and have family members that drop by anytime, or call several times a day for nothing at all. How do you get the message across that you are unavailable because you are in school. I want to be very stern but I don't want people to take it the wrong way. Love to hear your ideas.
My parents did this at first, but it rarely happens now. My biggest problem is my Science Co-op. It's me and two other families. One arrives an hour early!!! So the last time that happened, I told her we were in the middle of history, and she and her son could just sit and listen to our lesson! And she was OK with that!
They know that I don't answer my phone during school, even my dh knows I won't answer. So if they need to reach me they will tell me to pick up the phone on the answering machine and then I will do it. I haven't had a problem with them coming over before noon, they respect it.
I don't answer the door or telephone during school hours. I have several people who do not respect our school hours, so in order to keep from being interrupted I've had to take drastic action. It bugs me. These people would never think of walking into their child's public school class or calling a public school teacher during class...yet they cannot respect us.
yep, everyone pretty much summed it up! I don't have people coming over,but the phone always seems to ring just as we get started. since the ringing seems to throw off my ds concentration, I just turn the phone on vibrate till we're done.
If the phone is important they will call back or leave a message. If it's someone I'm close to I'll text them back to let them know I'll call them later. We don't have a set time of day that we do school, so for us it's not fair to get upset for someone calling or coming by. We don't have many visitors during the week during the day, so that helps. If anyone does come by it's usually my MIL, and it's only maybe 1-2 times a month and she only stays a short time, so we just take a little break and visit. I would put a sign on my door if I had issues about it though. And the answering machine/voice mail helps to screen calls for important things.
Funny you ask this.. I had the same issues but with phone calls from a fellow homeschool mom to boot! During school hours I don't answer the phone. She would call me EVERY day for nothing at all. Then when I didn't answer she would call RIGHT back several times in a row. The first time it happened I answered the phone thinking that there was an emergency. Nope, same old "nothing". So the next day when she called I didn't answer and AGAIN she called my cell phone several times in a row. THEN she called my home phone and finally resorted to calling my son's cell phone. Neither of them were answered. I actually avoided her for a while and this continued nearly every single day. Another friend of mine told me to tell her politely that I don't answer the phone during school and if she calls and I'm busy i will get back with her as soon as i can..I took her advice and the calls stopped for a while. But when we have our days off she will still do this. My family comes first. School, housework,laundry, quiet get my sanity back time. That all qualifies as busy in my book. The only advice i have is to tell them you are no longer answering the phone during school hours. If it's an emergency they can call you right back. But otherwise you will call them when you get finished with your schooling. As for the company goes, I would tell them the same thing. No company between such and such hours and they need to call before they come over even if it's after the set hours because sometimes school lasts a little longer than we expect.. Then hang a sign on the door stating that school is in session do not disturb.. Hope this works for you .
I don't get many calls or people dropping by out in the country, so it isn't a hinderance if someone does it from time to time. If they call at an inconvenient time, I just let them know and call them back. If someone does drop in on a rare occasion, we usually stop what we are doing and pick it up again later. If it was a regular basis, though, I'm sure I would have to give my family and friends a heads-up that I had a no call/visit policy during school time.
When we home school during the summer, I often just won't answer the phone if we are really engaged in our learning. A friend of mine is a masseuse and does some of her work from home. When she has a client over, she puts a sign in her front door window asking for people to please not knock or ring the bell.
As far as phone goes, it depends on what I'm doing. If I'm in the middle of reading to the kids, I will let the answering machine get it, and will call back when I'm done. But if everyone is busy doing their stuff and I'm not occupied at the time, I will answer it.
I am on the other side of this fence, I don't have any family nearby; am only homeschooling one child; my husband travels very often; unless it is an emergency (the only time my family actually calls me) it is rare that I get a phone call from anyone other than my husband, who often calls at different times depending on the time zone where he is, so I welcome just a non-emergency chit-chat conversation pretty much at any time. (I have a headset just so I can fold laundry at the same time.) Perhaps I feel differently and my life is more flexible because I had a home business for many years with people calling at all hours and perhaps this is why my daughter is pretty adaptive also. She easily can taking a break and then getting back to lessons. I also have fill in things for her to do on her own when I am on the phone.
I answer the phone - if it's someone who is just calling to chat I tell them I can't talk right now but will call them back when I can. Because our home is also our business it's hard not to answer the phone - especially when the last time that happened I almost lost a huge sale because people will just call the next person on their list. Doesn't mean I'm always here though - but I even forward my house phone to my cell if we go anywhere or if I will be in the fields somewhere.
Thanks guys. I think I will continue to leave my cell on silent during school hours let the machine pick up the home phone and politely tells friends and family that when our school sessions begin and end and we can not have visitors until after that time. Thanks for all your suggestions.
I don't have problems with the phone, I just answer it. But what I do have problems with is the neighbor's kids. They drive me nuts. One of them comes to my house before even going to her own house. Can't blame her. So what I started doing is making a schedule for the summer break. We school year round and that gives me a great excuse to get rid of them, or otherwise I would have kids here in and out of my house all day driving me nuts. I let them play from 9-11 am and then in the afternoon from 4-6. Then they come in and help with dinner, cleaning and we do a movie or guitar or something. That is the only way I can control the neighbor kids. They are bored too death and their parents mostly don't do anything with them. If my girls invite them over without permission, they get sent home. I am not a free neighborhood babysitter!
That is just starting for me as well. A homeschooling family moved in next door in the fall and they have younger children so their lesson time is much shorter than our own, but whenever they are out my daughter wants to go out too, of course. I used to love homeschooling on the picnic quilt in the front yard (as we have no level space in the back yard), but I am not sure that will work this summer. A more recent development, two girls slightly younger than my daughter, one homeschooled and one in public school, have begun coming over together in the last few weeks and they seem to both take days off with the public school, but we don't so....that is another adjustment for us and I am not sure how the summer is going to go.
I do not answer my house phone during the day. Only my family and a few friends have my cell number and they know not to call me during school hours unless it is important. A few years back I had a problem with a friend just showing up. I finally told her that she needed to call. She respected the wishes but didn't really understand the problem with her dropping by as she pleased until she started homeschooling her son.LOL I usually keep my gates closed and locked so people can't just walk in.
I don't really have phone problems but during the summer the neighbor boy likes to drop by every 30 minutes to see if they can play. It got so frustrating for me that I made a sign and I hung it on my front door that said we were busy and couldn't play. It stopped him from coming over. I told him that if the kids were outside then they could play, otherwise we are busy.
We honestly have the opposite problem. My parents and in-laws are almost afraid to call, not knowing if we're still "doing school" or not. I tell them they are free to call anytime...if we're busy I'll let them know. They love it when we just drop by to say hi, and I wish they knew the door was always open for them also. As far as neighbor kids bothering us, my kids call our rural street "Nursing Home Avenue" as many of the houses are occupied by empty nesters and retirees. The next oldest kid is a senior at the local ps and the next youngest is two years old! We have a fairly quiet area in which to live.....
